You’re probably not throwing EOFY parties to celebrate, but as another year ticks by, it’s easy to move onto the next task on the to-do list and not take the time to review what’s really going on in our businesses.

Running a business is not all smooth sailing, it’s time consuming and often you find yourself so swept up in the day-today operations that you neglect the business itself.

How often do you take a step back from the job to look at your business?

Are you still using the same processes, procedures, equipment or tech you were using 2 years ago? 5 years ago? 10?

If you have employees, are you still doing some of the same tasks you did when it was just you?

With that, here’s three things you should consider to bring your business back into shape.

1. Review your systems, processes and software

How do you do things? Write down the start to finish procedure to deliver a few of your main products or services. Are all these steps still required or can the process be simplified? Can the process be done better, or can you automate any step of the process? Review the software you use within your business, write down your pain points with it and look for a better solution. Do you double handle information and is there a way to eliminate that?

Review the way you keep your accounting records, your Point Of Sale system, job tracking system, method of collecting your hard earned. Think about implementing or improving software that will make your processes and reporting easier.

2. Price and Costs

It is also important to review your products and services in isolation (not as a whole on the P&L). Identify those revenue streams that need to be revalued. Factor in any increasing or unnecessary costs associated with them. Understand the ones that are making you money and which ones aren’t, as this can change from year to year.

Review your other business expenses and compare to prior quarters or previous years. Identify and understand anything has significantly increased or decreased and make a list of those that need to be investigated or trimmed back.

3. Delegate #delegate-gate

Employer? You build the business by yourself, you do every task and you know it back to front. Then you get too busy to do it all, so you hire employees. Familiar story? When was the last time you looked at your daily tasks and assessed what is the best use of your time?

A good little exercise is to spend 2 or 3 days taking note of every little thing you do, we mean everything. Now that you have your list, group those tasks into a few categories.

Something like this:

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In this example, anything in the green sector, should stay one of your tasks. Be honest though, sometimes you might think it’s something only you can do, but in reality, almost every task within your business can be delegated with the right systems in place.

Yellow: Think about whether this task needs to be done at all. If the answer is yes, then document the process and teach someone in your team to do this. Can this be automated?

Orange: Document the process and teach a senior team member how to action this task. Provide examples and make sure they are confident with the task before you let them loose.

Red: You should not be doing these tasks at all. Examples may include, collecting the mail, sending invoice reminders, answering the phone etc. These tasks should be delegated to the appropriate team member.

Now What?

These are just a few ideas on what you can regular assess and reassess in your business. It’s all about taking a step back and reviewing how you do things. Your policies and procedures should never be set in stone, but always reviewed and improved. Just because it worked last year, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to work this year.

The smallest improvements can make a big difference. How does more spare time sound? Or increasing productivity or profit? It might even allow you to enjoy your day more, or reclaim lost time with your family. All serious wins.

So what are we saying? Don’t fall into complacency, there’s always a better way of doing things, you just need to make the time to ask some practical questions. An annual business tune-up can help you identify and deal with issues in your business that you didn’t even know existed.